Inflation, rising for the second consecutive month after another twelve months of decline, had its biggest rebound this year and puts the focus once again on the Federal Reserve (Fed) in its fight to control the rise in prices and whose goal is 2% . This report comes just a week before their new meeting. This information only increases your caution.
Driven by the higher cost of gasoline and energy, the consumer price index in the United States rose to 3.7% last August in annualized value, above forecasts (3.6%). In July prices grew by 3.2%.
From one month to the next, inflation rose 0.6%, much higher than the 0.2% of the previous month, although this figure corresponds to the forecasts made on Wall Street.
However, the most worrying data is that core inflation, which excludes the most volatile elements such as energy and food, rose 0.3%, above expectations, and stood at 4.3% compared to the last year. This data is the one that the Fed has most in mind when weighing its containment or reinforcement of its restrictive monetary policy, because in its opinion it best reflects the real situation of the economy.
Despite these records, the fall in inflation is very relevant compared to the same time in 2022, when it reached 9.1% in June. The US central bank has applied eleven interest rate increases in 19 months, placing them at 5.25% -5.50%, the highest in 22 years.
Prior to the release of this new data, analysts indicated that the Fed will apply another increase this year, although they opted to leave things as they are at next week's meeting and apply the rate increase in the November or November meetings. December.
Energy prices grew 5.6% last month and this includes a 10.6% increase in gasoline. Food became more expensive by 0.2%, while housing, which represents a third of the index, rose by 0.3%.
The stock market fell and then gained momentum after this report was released.
This price increase had a direct impact on its application to workers' payrolls. Hourly wage earnings fell 0.5% in August, although they registered an increase of half a point compared to 2022.
